1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to aiming devices, in general, and to aiming devices with electronically enhanced target acquisition capabilities, in particular.
2. Prior Art. When acquiring a target with a firearm, it is most convenient to have a wide field of view through the associated aiming device in order to initially find the target. Typically, such a wide field of view provides a low level of magnification. Once the target is located, it is then desirable to have less field of view with more magnification to improve accuracy at the target.
Typically, the user must (a) set the device to a compromise magnification setting; (b) set the device at low magnification to acquire the target and then adjust to high magnification to fire the weapon; or (c) spend considerable time attempting to acquire the target at high magnification. The first option is rife with guesswork as to compromise settings. Often there is insufficient time to perform the second option. The third option is unwieldy in acquiring the target with a highly sensitive process. This invention uses electronically controlled electronic zoom to solve this dilemma by providing variable magnification.
There are many variable magnification aiming devices on the market today. For example electronic zoom is commonly used in video and still cameras today as well as certain aiming devices. However, in these cases, the amount of electronic zoom is manually controlled by the user. The instant invention operates to relate the movement of the aiming device (or the associated weapon or device which is to be manually aimed) to the electronic zoom of the field of view at the viewing screen.